Timeline - Paralympics

Year

1955

"We played pretty hard!"

Kevin Cunningham talks about the skills of wheelchair basketball

1957

Western Australia wheelchair basketball grand final action

"I've gotta get into this, this is a great way of getting more mobile!"

Kevin Cunningham responds to the return of the 1957 team

1960

National Games medals and tickets to Rome for Cunningham and Coombs

Kalgoorlie crowd watches Paras push around police cadets

Members of the 1960 Australian Paralympic Team pose with an entertainer at their hotel in Singapore en route to the first Paralympic Games in Rome, September 1960. At this time, it was seen as beneficial for people with paraplegia to spend time standing and even to learn to 'walk' using crutches and wearing calipers, so Daphne Ceeney (later Hilton) in the back row and Frank Ponta (seated, far left) are out of their wheelchairs in this photo.

Australian team en route to 1960 Rome Paralympics

Australian team marches Tokyo Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremony

Australian team Rome Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremony

Seven members of the 1960 Australian Paralympic Team - the first - at the reunion to mark the 50th anniversary of the Games. The team members and their partners were guests of honour at the 2010 Australian Paralympian of the Year Awards. All but one of the pictured athletes were accompanied by their long-term wives or husbands. Of the 12 athletes who attended the Games, eight were still alive 50 years later (Frank Ponta was too ill to attend). L to R (athlete and partner): Chris O'Brien with his sister; Daphne Hilton (nee Ceeney) and husband Frank; Gary Hooper and wife Jan; APC President Greg Hartung; Bruno Moretti and wife Scarlett; Kevin Coombs and wife Linda; Kevin Cunningham and wife Maureen; and Bill Mather-Brown and wife Nadine.

Australian team 50-year reunion Rome Summer Paralympics

1966

Athletes and offiicials from the competing nations watch the opening ceremony of the 1966 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Kingston, Jamaica. At the right of the photo are nine of the Australian athletes, with some team officials offering them drinks.Photo donated from the personal collection of Bill Mather-Brown, one of Australia's original Paralympians.

Athletes watch the 1966 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games opening ceremony

The basketball (most of) team photo

Australia plays England in the wheelchair basketball final at the Second Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Kingston, Jamaica. Australians L to R in the dark singlets: Jimmy Newton, Kevin Cunningham, John Martin, Bill Mather-Brown (tip-off) and Bruno Moretti. English player in tip-off is Cyril Thomas/Thompson. England won the game and the gold medal.Photo donated from the personal collection of Bill Mather-Brown, one of Australia's original Paralympians.

Tip-off in the basketball final vs England

1968

"You could hear the guns going off in the distance"

Kevin Cunningham talks about the scary situations in Israel 1968

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